Rendering fibrous material impervious to tetra alkyl lead



Patented Nov. 7, 1933 RENDERING F I B R U S MATERIAL IM- PERVIOUS T0 TETRA ALKYL LEAD William S. Calcott, Penns Grove, N. 3., and Howell V. Ericka, Springfield, Pa., assignors to E. l. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, Del, a corporation oi Delaware No Drawing. Application April l, 1931 Serial No. 527M642 ll Claims.

This invention relates to wearing apparel and the like and more particularly to the treatment of articles of clothing for the purpose of rendering them impervious to and capable of resisting pounds.

Tetra alkyl lead, and particularly tetra ethyl lead, is very toxic andreadily penetrates articles 1 of clothing, thus resulting in serious injury to the id wearer. This has been found to be especially true of such articles of clothing as gloves or shoes, or the like, that are made from leather containing oils and fats in which tetra alkyl lead is extremely soluble.

5 We have found that a solution of any ordinary commercial soap in glycerine, to which a small amount of alcohol has been added, will penetrate the fibres from which clothing and wearing apparel are made, and will render these materials 29 so treated substantially impervious to the penetration of tetra alkyl lead, and particularly tetra ethyl lead. While this treatment is especially applicable to articles made from leather, good results are also obtained by like treatment of fibrous material or cotton cloth.

While our invention is of wide scope, the following example is given of an illustrative embodiment thereof applied specifically to the treatment of leather:

EmampZe.-One pound of ordinary sodium soap of commerce is mixed with four pounds of commercial glycerine and the mixture heated until the soap is dissolved. The mixture is then cooled to approximately 80 C. and one pound of ethyl alcohol is added to the solution. Leather gloves or other articles to be treated are dipped into this mixture while the temperature of the solution is maintained at around 80 C. and are kept 4O immersed for approximately one minute. The

gloves or other articles are then suspended from a suitable device or rack where they are allowed to drain and cool. The articles treated in this way become saturated with the composition and will remain impervious to tetra ethyl lead, and other alkyl lead compounds until they have been completely worn out. I

Other material, such as fibrous wearing apparel, and cotton fabrics, may be similarly treated. It will be understood, of course, that the proportions of the ingredients forming the composition may vary within wide limits.

The foregoing treatment of articles of clothing and like material is not only efflcacious against tetra ethyl lead compounds, butwill be found the penetrating action of tetra alkyl lead com efiective also against the tetra methyl and tetra butyl lead compounds. As many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, it is to be underso stoodthat we do not limit ourselves to the foregoing examples or descriptions except as indicated in the following patent claims:

We claim:

l. The process of rendering articles of clothing impervious to tetra alkyl lead compounds which comprises saturating the articles of clothing with a composition consisting of sodium soap, glycerine, and ethyl alcohol.

2. The process of rendering articles of clothing impervious to tetra alkyl lead compounds which comprises saturating the articles of clothing with a composition consisting of approximately one part sodium soap, four parts glycerine and one part ethyl alcohol.

3. The process of rendering fibrous material impervious to tetra alkyl lead compounds which comprises saturating the material with a com position consisting of soap, glycerine, and ethyl alcohol.

a. The process of rendering fibrous material impervious to tetra alkyl lead compounds which comprises saturating the material with a composition consisting of approximately one part soap, four parts glycerine, and one part ethyl alcohol.

5. The process of rendering fibrous material resistant to the action of tetra ethyl lead which comprises saturating the fibrous material with a composition consisting of sodium soap, glycerine, and ethyl alcohol.

6. The process of rendering fibrous material resistant to the action of tetra ethyl lead which comprises saturating the fibrous material with a composition consisting of approximately one part sodium soap, four parts glycerine and one part ethyl alcohol. v

7. The process of rendering leather material resistant to the action of tetra alkyl lead which comprises saturating the material with a composition consisting of sodium soap, glycerine, and ethyl alcohol.

8. The process of rendering leather material resistant to the action of tetra allgvl lead which comprises saturating the material with a composition consisting of approximately one part sodium soap, four parts glycerine, and one part ethyl alcohol.

9. The process of rendering leather resistantllo position consisting of approximately onepart sodium soap, four parts glycerine and one part ethyl alcohol.

13. Leather goods saturated with a composition consisting of sodium soap, glycerine, and ethyl alcohol.

14. Leather goods saturated with a composition consisting of approximately one part sodium soap, four parts glycerine, and one part ethyl alcohol.

HOWELL V. BRICKA. WELIAM S. CALCOTT. 

